Biography

Colony Of Rhode Island

A Brief History

Early Settlement

Early History

"Rhode Island was so called
from a fancied resemblance to the ancient Island of Rhodes in the
Mediterranean.

Roger Williams, having been
banished from Massachusetts,
in 1635, visited Ousamequin, the sachem of Pokanoket whose residence
was at Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol. From him he
obtained a grant of land in the town of Seekonk, and here made
preparations to erect a house; but, being informed by the Governor of Plymouth
that he was within the limits of that colony, he resolved to move.
Accordingly, about the middle of June, 1636, he embarked in a canoe
with five others, and proceeded down the Narragansett River to a spot
near the mouth of the Moshassuck. This he selected as a place of
settlement, which, in grateful remembrance of the mercies of God, he
called Providence.

This was within the
jurisdiction of the Narragansett Indians. The sachems were Canonicus,
and his nephew, Miantinomo. These he visited, and received a verbal
cession of land, and two years afterwards, was formally conveyed to him
by deed.

In the course of two years, Mr.
Williams was joined by a number of friends from Massachusetts, with
whom he shared the land he had obtained, reserving to himself only two
small fields, which, on his first arrival, he had planted with his own
hands.

And here, in this community,
was presented the first example the world ever saw of perfect religious
toleration—everyone was permitted to hold such religious
opinions, and to worship God after that manner they pleased, without
fear and molestation. The honor of this arrangement belongs to Mr.
Williams.

He was careful, nevertheless,
to provide for the maintenance of the civil peace. All the settlers
were required to sign a covenant to submit themselves to all such
orders or arrangements as should be made for the public good concerning
civil matters. This simple instrument combining the principles of a
pure democracy and of unrestricted religious liberty, was the basis of
the first government of Rhode Island.

The government of the town
being thus placed in the hands of the inhabitants; with the
legislative, judicial, and executive functions exercised for several
years by its citizens, in town meetings. Two deputies were appointed,
from time to time, whose duty it was to preserve order, to settle
disputes, to call town meetings, to preside over them, and to see that
their resolutions were executed.

In 1638, William Coddington and
eighteen others, being persecuted in Massachusetts for their religious
tenets, followed Mr. Williams to Providence. By his advice, they
purchased from Canonicus and Miantinomo, some islands in Narragansett
Bay, and began the settlement of Portsmouth,
on the northern part of the what was known as Aquetnet island. Soon
after, another settlement was commenced, on the southwestern side, by
the name of Newport.
Both towns were considered as belonging to the same colony, which
received the name of Rhode
Island Plantation.

In imitation of the form of
government which existed for a time among the Jews, the inhabitants
elected Mr. Coddington to be their magistrate, with the title of Judge;
and a few months afterward, they elected three elders to assist him.
This form of government continued until March 12th 1640, when they
chose Mr. Coddington governor, Mr. Brenton deputy-governor, with a
treasurer, secretary and three assistants. No other change in the form
of government took place until the charter was obtained.

At the time of the Union of the
New England colonies in their confederacy
of 1643, the proposal of the Providence
and Rhode Island Plantations
to join it was refused, on the ground that they had no charter;
whereupon, the following year, Roger Williams proceeded to England, and
obtained from Parliament a free charter of incorporation, by which the
two plantations were united under one government. In 1663, a royal
charter was granted to them by Charles II. This charter constituted an
assembly, consisting of a governor, deputy-governor, and ten
assistants, with the representatives from the several towns, all to be
chosen by the freemen.

In 1686, Sir Edmund Andros, being made Governor of New
England, dissolved the charter of Rhode Island, and appointed a council
to assist him in governing the colony. Three years after, William,
Prince of Orange, ascended the throne of England, and Andros was seized
and imprisoned; upon which, the freemen assembled at Newport, and,
having resumed their charter, restored all the officers whom Andros had
displaced.

— A History of the United States, by Charles A. Goodrich, 1857 (edited)